15-24 Dec 2012: Richard cooked a beautiful roasted saddle of lamb, with rosemary, lots of onion and sweet garlic! Divine. It was a perfect Pauillac evening.
The 1982 Lynch Bages was initially more closed than the 1982 Grand Puy Lacoste. It needed time for the bouquet to come through and even more time for the palate. The nose was earthy, with leather, kirsch, raisin, and liquorice notes. Slightly more reserved and tightly structured than the more aromatic and voluptuous Grand Puy Lacoste. Full-bodied, with a velvety structure of tannin. A low-ish level of acidity. It needed a good part of the evening to take on more weight and for the depth and complexity of flavours to become more apparent. When it finally did, it was well worth the wait! Patience is required for this wine. 17.5+/20
The 1982 Grand Puy Lacoste was a very attractive wine. Head-turning bouquet of cassis, blueberry, coffee, leather, cigar smoke, violet and cedar, with hints of liquorice spice and warm stoney earth. A rich and concentrated palate that impressed with elegance rather than heaviness, velvety tannin, and just enough acidity to keep the wine fresh. Just coming into its drinking window now and with a long life ahead! 17.5/20
The 1961 Grand Puy Lacoste was a fully mature wine, with very impressive bouquet of coffee, leather, kirsch, sweet cloves and nutmeg. An absolute beauty that has retained freshness, poise, elegance and depth. Very supple on the palate, with the sweet fruit finish that lingers for a very long time. Drinking at peak now but there is no hurry to drink up this wine. 18/20
A few days later, we had the 1961 Gruaud Larose. Ruby core, with just a tiny hint of garnet at rim. A mature and smokey bouquet met the nose, enchanting us with aromas of sweet tobacco, oregano, dried flowers, cedar, crushed stone, leather and mushroom. Velvety texture, rich in complexity and depth, with abundant sweet blueberry and blackberry fruit lacing the tertiary notes. A glorious wine, that did not fade at all during the course of 4 hours, still showing a robust structure of velvety tannin and firm acidity. The finish went on and on. Marvellous!!! 19/20
For Christmas Eve dinner, joined by two close friends, we had some more 1961 over a superb meal at Otto e Mezzo!
1961 Plince showed a ruby core. A very attractive nose of tobacco, coriander, pot pourri, leather and just a hint of soya sauce. A medium-bodied wine, that improved in the glass, but a little light on the mid palate and finish, did not quite have the same magnitude and vinosity as the 1961 Palmer that followed. Slightly drying finish. 17.5/20
1961 Palmer was a tour de force. A totally magnificent example of a great classic from Bordeaux. Still showing plenty of energy and vigour on the nose, palate and finish. The bouquet was a very complex pot pourri of intense aromas of strawberry and blueberry, layered with notes of leather, mocha, spice, cedar and coffee. The intensity and richness on the palate was simply astounding, the flavours deftly coating the palate, leading to a finish that lingered till the next sip. A sensational wine that almost seemed timeless. 20/20
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